HOW WILL BREXIT IMPACT US HOLIDAYMAKERS?
These are extraordinary times, there is no denying.
As I type this Country is undergoing a dramatic period of political uncertainty.
But party politics aside, let’s analyse how Brexit will effect our holidays. I recently stumbled across a report that was published in the summer and having read it have extracted some of the most important points and will present them below as clear as possible.
A survey of more than 130 firms highlights fears that British holiday companies will no longer be able to employ their UK staff on the continent on UK terms – for instance paying tax and National Insurance in the UK for the NHS – and will instead have to pay into much more expensive continental state social insurance schemes.
Such changes could mean:
• Holiday companies facing a 58% increase in costs
• Holiday companies employing less staff from Britain – reducing job and training opportunities at home, especially for younger Britons and negatively impacting holiday experiences for millions of British tourists
• The closure or merger of smaller family-owned holiday businesses
The cost increases of the scale predicted will just not be feasible for many companies and they are not set up to be able to employ EU nationals.
This means they will be forced to close or sell, putting in jeopardy the £16.5 billion the sector contributes to the UK economy and £1 billion it delivers directly to the UK Exchequer.
There are an estimated 25,000 UK nationals working in the EU supporting the seasonal holiday industry whose jobs are at risk with any of the Brexit scenarios currently in prospect, the report warns.
So the report seems overall fairly worrying, but could it be scaremongering? You be the judge!
With new technology lowering the costs of running a cruise ship and the rapid expansion of the cruising industry I hold a firm belief that we will hold fast and enjoy our cruises for many, many years to come.
Happy Cruising!
Ed x
4 Comments on “HOW WILL BREXIT IMPACT US HOLIDAYMAKERS?”
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Hello, I'm Edward your specialist cruise consultant and this is about me! I was born and bred in Wiltshire, so that makes me a country boy at heart - right? After travelling forty plus times since the age of 2 to many different parts of this world it's safe to…
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This is one I’m watching with interest. Our last cruise went to Russia but immigration queues were short and quick. I saw the shades of things to come at one of the EU ports (poss Spain?) long snaking tensabarrier queues already set up for cruisers. Wonder if the embarkation point will be entry into the EU? I feel for our young people, many will be returning home from (in some cases many years) working in the EU.
It’s a shame all this info did not come out two years ago along with the real City effect in the financial markets, There should never have been a 50/50 vote for brexit it should have been 60/40 vote as I am sure a lot of people coming of age who could not vote then would vote the other way now, also a lot of old people who voted then may be dead now. I really hope it all works out well.
I don’t think the British people will have money to spend on Cruises, so much if we crash out of the EU. I think that the UK will not be in a very good place if we leave the EU with no deal. This according to a lot could go on for years, and lead to many job loses. If this is the case then somethings will have to go, and one of these would be cruiseing. Flights could also be affected.
What about the current exchange rates. Everything is now much more expensive just because of that. Everywhere you look this is causing the price to rise. Most cruise ships use $US so even if you fins a cruise that that has not gone up in price and you pay for in sterling you still get caught out.
We have decided that we are fed up with being “Early Birds” as you get caught out by surcharges, which can be as high as 10%, not to mention all of the extras and better that you get as empty cabins are sold off as “last minute deals”.